Authorities: No COVID-19 Cases Related to Rally Among 4,700 Participants at July 3rd Minju No Chong Labor Union Workers' Assembly

On the afternoon of the 3rd, members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a nationwide workers' rally while occupying the road in Jongno 3-ga, demanding a complete revision of the labor law. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] According to the investigation results by health authorities, there were no cases of COVID-19 infection linked to attendance at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) workers' rally held on the 3rd.

On the 26th, Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, stated at the regular COVID-19 briefing, "Among the attendees of the KCTU workers' rally on the 3rd, three confirmed cases were identified. Epidemiological investigations revealed that the presumed infection route was not the rally itself but a restaurant visited on the 7th." He added, "Follow-up testing of these three individuals and 122 colleagues from the same workplace who attended the rally found no additional confirmed cases."

The health authorities' investigation confirmed that the three confirmed cases had visited a restaurant together on the 7th, where two previously infected individuals had also visited and stayed for over an hour, establishing an epidemiological link. Furthermore, viral genetic analysis showed a very high match rate, leading the authorities to conclude that transmission occurred from these prior infected individuals.

Earlier, on the 17th, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum expressed deep regret as the head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters over the confirmed cases among attendees of the KCTU workers' rally, despite repeated requests for restraint. He strongly urged, "All rally attendees, regardless of symptoms, should immediately visit the nearest screening clinic for diagnostic testing."

However, according to the test compliance results submitted by KCTU, 4,701 people were tested, and no additional confirmed cases were found. Park Young-jun, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, stated, "It was confirmed that there were no additional confirmed cases beyond the initial three," but added, "We did not cross-check the lists of all approximately 4,700 individuals one by one."

Deputy Head Kwon emphasized, "The results of this epidemiological investigation do not guarantee that the KCTU rally, which violated the assembly ban, was conducted safely." He also added, "We will continue to investigate the relevance of any newly discovered confirmed cases."

He further urged, "All events and gatherings are high-risk activities for COVID-19 transmission. Please strictly adhere to the social distancing measures: under Level 4, gatherings are banned except for one person outdoors, and in Level 3 areas, gatherings of 50 or more are prohibited."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.